http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap10...g-lovie-smith-among-nfls-best-offseason-moves Moving in the right direction.
Don't blame Ross making a trip to see the best coaching prospect of all time..He didnt choose sparano.
Philbin needs to beat Fisher... It sends the message Ross ended up with the better man. If Fisher wins, it's like Ross lost out on a coach who can beat Philbin.
Looking back now, Ross couldn't have missed with Harbaugh, Fisher, or Philbin. All three are very good coaches, IMO.
I'm really happy we didn't end up with Fisher. I was pretty upset with the idea that we might as it happened. We could have said hello to another few years of mediocrity at best.
Adam Schein in particular...I could swear he was bad mouthing Miami's coaches. Either way it's an interesting point. If you're pulling aside Jim Harbaugh and Jeff Fisher as the guys Miami wanted, but then they got Joe Philbin and that's going to work out to their benefit...I'm not sure where the point lies. Jim Harbaugh is a friggin magician in San Francisco and Jeff Fisher has the Rams above 0.500 for the first time in 6 years even with 40% of the old toilet water from previous management still on roster (no offense meant to Chris Long, James Laurinaitis, Sam Bradford or Steven Jackson). I like Joe Philbin but is now the right time to be declaring victory in hiring him over those other dudes?
Which really puts a little bit of a dent in the idea that Steve Ross has no idea what he's doing and he's just out there chasing big names. He chased two big names that look like they deserved chasing, and ended up with an unknown guy that is also being hailed (though we'll see if that lasts, Sparano was once voted co-Head Coach of the Year). So for those saying he just wants stars, how'd he end up with Philbin then? And for those saying he doesn't know what he's doing, how'd three of the four guys he chased end up looking pretty good?
They are getting a little bit ahead of themselves. And I like that they've got that not looking for an alternative to career mediocrity Rashard Mendenhall coming off an ACL injury as a noteworthy positive. What the heck?
I don't think one game means anything. Both Fisher and Philbin seem to be leading their teams in the right direction. I think either team would just want a win, and not try to read anything more into it. Although, I'm sure fans on one side or the other will try to spin it somehow.
The criticisms I've heard (and had) about Ross were never about which head coaching candidates he was choosing to interview.
I didn't read it as declaring victory over hiring the others but as going after the right type of guys until he landed one that is making a difference taking the team in the right direction.
Overall, that simply looks like an article predicated on plugging his radio show as many times as possible.
I know it is not the popular view here, but I don't see any coaching wizardry going on here. This team finished last year 6-3. One of the losses was a 3pt. loss on the road to the AFC champion Pats. Another was a 1 pt loss on the road to the Cowboys. We are still struggling to win close games and have lost a few of them. I like Tannehill and have high hopes for him but I'm not sure how much credit for that goes to the coaches. Maybe a lot; maybe a little. The defense looks solid, but it was solid the second half of last year too.
Important players are playing better; Smith, Carroll, Jones, Misi, Odrick, Pounced, Hartline. That's coaching not coincidence. Also, rookies are heavy contributors. That's generally rare and down to coaching. And as people who actually know the players have reported, the team is really buying in. That is also on the coaches.
he looked very good against the eagles, running with power and i swear i have never seen him hit a hole that fast and hard ever...well see how it unfolds but that return sure looked promising
I'm not sure I'd give you all those guys on that and I'm not sure it is all coaching. Smith was playing better the last 5-6 games of last year. Same with Jones and Carroll. I'm not sure Odrick has been better this year. Pouncey has been better, but like these other young guys you would expect them to improve from year 1 to year 2, or year 2 to year 3. I'm not sure how much Hartline is playing, as opposed to his simply getting all those targets that were going to Marshall last year. I think the team was "buying in" the second half of last year too. At least they played like they were, which is really what matters. I don't think rookie contributions are a real sign of great coaching necessarily. It may just be that they are talented players who are doing what they know how to do. Are any of the rookies excelling at something that was previously considered a major weakness? I'm happy that we are playing well and I think we even have a shot at the playoffs, but I just don't think the credit necessarily goes to the coaches.
At the end of the day a pet rock would have been a more intelligent coach than Tony Sparano. Last year we lost games do to idiotic coaching decisions and poor schemes. We've lost a few close games but not for the same reason. Not because our coach has the IQ of a doorknob.
I thought the line where he says Philbin is working with a thin roster to be hyperbole. Tannehill is the fifth element, not Philbin.
You are absolutely right. Hiring Harbaugh would have been a home run. dude is one of the 5 best coaches in football.You can just see him having a decade + long run in San Fran and bringing a few Lombardi's with him. Jeff fisher is well respected and has a proven track record. Philbin, as much as I like the guy and I think we have a bright future, is 2-3 and has proven absolutely nothing. Declaring any victory in the "search for a coach" now is like calling Ryan Tannehill a "sure fire franchise quarterback". It's the definition of homerism. Let's be patient and see how it all plays out.
If the Dolphins don't get Philbin, do they still get Tannehill? Probably. But it's questionable whether Mike Sherman becomes the offensive coordinator. If Jeff Fisher got the job, Brian Schottenheimer is the OC. Is Ryan Tannehill as far along as he is under this staff? It's my understanding that the structure and tempo of practice were Philbin's doing. And that has been universally lauded as a major factor in why the players have adapted so quickly to new offensive and defensive systems, and why the rookie QB is quickly adapting to NFL speed and showing visible improvement each week. Philbin's the first guy to say that execution (e.g. players) win. But he and his staff have done a very good job of coaching those guys up and getting them prepared. As Channing Crowder noted, they've done a good job adjusting week-to-week and have gotten better at halftime. And while some of the decision-making is naturally up for discussion, we're not seeing the wasted timeouts, discombobulation and poor clock management from the previous regime. I'm watching the Jets last night and they convert a big pass play. 40 seconds later, the offense is standing around and NYJ is burning a timeout. Tony Sparano is their offensive coordinator. Remember when we didn't have a 2-minute offense? Remember those 3rd quarters when we were already down to one timeout? Remember the familiar site of our QB's yelling at the sideline to give them a play? Tony Sparano was our head coach. Today, our base offense is a 2-minute drill. We burn a timeout and the head coach is incredulous, cursing on the sidelines. This season, after 50+ years, the NFL finally lost my dad. Primarily due to what the game has become (the exorbitant money, pass interference, etc.), but the Dolphins being poor and how Ross has handled some things didn't help. He didn't follow the offseason, didn't watch Hard Knocks, preseason...nothing. He just wasn't interested anymore. After the Arizona game, he called to tell me that he'd watched half of the Jets game and all of the Cardinals. And that he hasn't seen anything like this in Miami since early Shula-Marino. The attention to detail from the head coach. The quarterback handling himself in the pocket and delivering the ball on the money. It hadn't been this good in a long, long time. He hasn't 'returned' to the NFL yet, but Miami is pulling him back in. Jim Harbaugh and Jeff Fisher are great coaches. And winning is all that matters. But right now I'm happy with what we have. I'm happy with what we could be. And I'm pleased with the work this relatively green NFL staff is doing. As an aside, I'm happy that Jeff Fisher didn't bring Gregg Williams here to bestow further shame and ridicule on this franchise. As for Stephen Ross, it appears he has targeted all the right coaches. But he's still made blunder after blunder along the way. Targeting coaches appears to be one of the few areas he's been good. Assuring the games remain televised is another.
Also if JF would have got the gig, we would have been screwed out of a DC after he was suspended for life.
This group of players were playing their asses off down the stretch last season. But if you want a brief testament to coaching.... The new regime replaces a respected defensive coordinator and a pretty successful 3-4 front with a rookie and a 4-3, lets a very good lineman in Langford walk, traded away a starting corner and the only other edge rusher retired. There are question marks in a lot of places. The run defense has become by far the league's best. Multiple players are performing at the highest level of their careers. Thru 5 games, the defense is well ahead of last year's pace for sacks, INTs and forced fumbles. And that was with the replacement refs allowing Cam Wake to be mugged for three weeks. Offensively, they bring an entirely new system, start a 'raw' rookie and trade away one of the game's best receivers. There are only two legitimate receiving targets, both inherited and neither considered starting caliber. One leads the league in yardage and is averaging 17.7 ypc. The other -- who'd never averaged better than 10.5 for a season -- is getting 15.7 yards per catch. Still a long way to go. I just think if Harbaugh gets credit for taking the (considerable) talent on his roster and making it better, so should Philbin.
I'd give that post multiple fist bumps if I could. As Philbin said, its a one week season. This next game is huge, as going into the bye at .500 would give this team a tremendous boost. Also, along with the coaching points, Anybody else notice that they had the fake field goal covered on two of the FG attempts Sunday? That is the kind of "we are not going to get caught with our pants down" attention to detail we haven't seen in some time. A good example of playing situation football
I suggest you tune into Sirius NFL around 11am EST nad 20 minute in you will be calle your dentist begging for a root canal.
2 penalties for ten yards last game. Tanne always has plenty of time before the playclock expires. Defense is never really caught off guard either. Yeah, I completely take my marginalizing blurb about Philbin back. He does run a tight ship...
